PRINCETON — Members of The American Boychoir School will get an education in Korean culture while they show off their singing talents at the International Choral Festival in Daejeon, South Korea, during an 11-day trip that begins Thursday.

The trip, for 35 boys and five adults, is being funded by Daejeon’s Ministry of Culture and the Korea Federation of Choral Music, according to Boychoir music director Fernando Malvar-Ruiz.

The choir was invited to attend the festival after a representative from the Daejeon Culture and Arts Foundation observed the choir last summer, Malvar-Ruiz said. Initially, they had to decline the invitation, he said, because the choir did not have enough money to budget for international travel. But about a month later, officials with the South Korean groups notified him that all expenses for the trip would be paid by Daejeon’s Ministry of Culture and the Korea Federation of Choral Music, Malvar-Ruiz said.

“It is obviously a great honor to be invited, and to be invited under such circumstances,” Malvar-Ruiz said, referring to the fact that the trip’s expenses are being funded by the South Korean groups.

In addition to performing at the festival and at a concert in Seoul, South Korea, the group will participate in cultural activities, take tours of South Korean landmarks and an amusement park.

“I’m excited to try the food there and just to see what it’s like out of the country and in Korea,” Evan Corn, 12, of Hamilton said.

Malvar-Ruiz also said that the boys were all incredibly happy when he announced to them that they were going on the trip.

“I was kind of jaw-dropped, I guess,” Corn said. “I didn’t know what was going on and I didn’t believe him at first, but then he just kept saying it.”

The group will be performing several genres of songs including pop, jazz and gospel. Corn said he is most excited to perform “What a Wonderful World,” a song made popular by Louis Armstrong.

Two of the boys are originally from Korea and said they are particularly excited about traveling to a familiar place.

“I’m excited because it’s my home country and I can teach my friends about the culture and the food,” Neo Shin, 14, said. Many of the boys, including Corn, have never visited another country.

“The trip to Korea is just another opportunity to teach the boys and for them to discover the point of view of another culture,” Malvar-Ruiz said. “Artistically, it’s an honor to perform in the festival, and it is a wonderful educational opportunity.”

Last week, a Korean alumni parent met with the boys for two hours to teach them about Korean culture including food, manners and games.

This trip will be the choir’s second tour in Korea in its 75-year history, according to general manager Christie Starrett, but the choir has not performed abroad in more than five years.

“Certainly we would love to travel abroad on a regular basis,” she said. “We’ve had lots of international students — we really are a boy choir for the world.”

There are 40 members in the choir, and Starrett said the five who are not going on the trip are new students who just recently enrolled at the school.

The school runs from fourth grade to eighth grade, and the youngest boy going on the trip to Korea is 10 years old, Starrett said.